[DutchmenSport]

I can't respond to other's experiences, only my own. Our Montana is the first camper we've had with a residential refrigerator, after 3 other campers with standard RV - gas/electric refer's. So, when we got the Montana, it was a mind adjustment. I had my serious doubts if a non-gas refer would actually work (at least for us). We do not boom dock either, but we do travel, and are not seasonal campers at all.

It takes a little time to grow to trust the refrigerator, and your own experiences, that get better and better with each "outing" you take with the camper. The on-board inverter (running off the battery), does work very, very well keeping the refrigerator running while in transit. And keeping the battery charged with the power from the tow truck takes a little time to feel comfortable with also.

But the fact is, the tow vehicle will keep the trailer battery charged. The battery will run the inverter that will produce AC power, that will run your refrigerator. You won't have any problems.

When you stop, shut the engine of the tow vehicle off, the battery in the camper will keep the refrigerator running just fine for several hours. I think the longest we ran on the factory (or dealership) installed battery was about 12 hours straight, and we still had battery power.

On another occasion, we had truck failure when traveling and ended up in a motel for 3 days. The trailer was in the motel parking lot, not plugged in. We were able to keep the refrigerator cold, and even ice-cream in the freezer for 3 days / nights before we were able to get another tow vehicle to get us hauled to a campground. Yes, we were stuck there until the truck got repaired.

Would I want to go back to a gas/electric refrigerator again? Only if there was no other alternative available. Even a gas/electric refrigerator still depends on the trailer battery to power the circuit board. So, if the battery goes dead, the refrigerator won't run either.

My biggest problem is remembering to turn on the inverter when we hit the road. Even with that, the refrigerator maintains it's cold so well, things are still frozen and cold when we reach our destination several hours later.

Again, it does take a little learning curve to feel confident what you can and cannot expect. That only comes by using it.

But one thing is absolutely, 100%, completely certain about having a residential refrigerator ...... You will never, ever, ever have to worry about getting in a heated debate if it is safe or not to run the gas on your refrigerator while traveling, and especially when filling up at gas stations. You will never have that debate again.